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User blog:Void Samukai/World of Warships Blitz Premium Ship Review: Russian Tier V Battleships USSR USSR Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya
AbyssalKageryu World of Warships Blitz Review: Tier V Premium Battleship USSR Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya Greetings everyone, this is AbyssalKageryu with another special review. Today we will be taking a look at the first Russian Battleship in World of Warships Blitz: the Oktya… ...the Oktyab… …-cough-… ...the Oktyabrskw...oh **** it the October Revolution. For the sake of my sanity I will be calling this ship the October Revolution in this review. Anyways, as always I will be going over how I feel about the different characteristics of the ship and how it plays. Once again, I call upon the power of plagiarism to rip off LittleWhiteMouse’s type of guide. So sit back and enjoy the show. To start off: a short history recap on the ship with the weird name. History: The October Revolution started off as the much less complicatedly named Gangut: the lead ship of the first class of dreadnoughts for the Russian Navy. While comparable to first generation dreadnought battleships, she came into a time when everyone else was building super dreadnoughts that were about as fast while having much more armour and firepower. Her career was pretty uneventful aside from the odd munity and running aground, before her crew joined the communist revolution. She was renamed to October Revolution and was modernised by someone who clearly had a Fuso feddish. This modernisation mostly consisted of changing the boilers, removing secondary guns and adding anti aircraft guns as well as changing the superstructure to house more advanced fire control systems. She participated in many battles giving shell support, such as the Winter War and the Siege of Leningrad and survived multiple bombings by German aircraft before she was decommissioned and scrapped by 1958, after earning the Order of the Red Banner for her actions. TLDR Version: Typical Dreadnought history and modernised to WTF Simple Overview Closest In-game Contemporary: Ishizuchi Degree of Similarity: Clone / Sister-Ship / Related Class / ‘‘‘Similar Role’’’ / Unique Both ships are mediocrely armoured battleships with 12 inch guns that cannot take too many hits from other battleships and have pretty good HE shells. The difference is that Ishizuchi is a wholetier lower and her secondaries are overall more threatening to enemy ships due to having more of them and having greater range. Of course her anti aircraft defence is almost non existent and her turning leaves a lot to be desired, which are things that October Revolution have pretty well. The Good *The most main guns out of all the Tier V battleships *Turret layout that allows you to fire 6 guns forward if somewhat angled *HE shells that I’m sure were stolen from a British ammo store *High end in terms of DPM *Decent accuracy and penetration *Anti aircraft guns that can actually shoot down a plane or two *Speed that does not leave you completely behind compare to other battleships *Decent turning The Bad *Slow reload on guns of her caliber *The smallest caliber of guns at Tier V at only 12 inches *Speed is still not enough to keep up with allied cruisers *Can easily outturn her turrets, making aiming hard while trying to manoeuvre *Only 3 guns able to fire when firing exactly forward *Squishy target with weakish armour The Ugly *Secondary armament is lacking in number *Position of secondary guns means you have to be practically broadside in order to fire all of them *Most of the anti aircraft defence is limited to short range *Limited Skills with only Precise Aiming *Dat Superstructure *Dat Name Now, on to the Review!!! Firepower: The October Revolution can be best described as a glass cannon. So let’s talk about the cannon part of the ship. But first, let’s get this out of the way: October Revolution’s secondary armament is not going to save you from enemy ships. With only 10 guns of 120 mm caliber, your DPM is already lacking compare to secondary masters like Konig and even Kongo. And coup with the limited range of the secondaries, you will find yourself dangerously close before you can begin using them. This is made even worse by how the secondary guns are located. 6 aim slightly more to the front and 4 more to the rear, but they are so far spaced apart that in order to fire all 1o of them you need to expose pretty much all your broadside. This certainly is not what you hope to do when you are up against a rushing destroyer. In short, don’t rely on your secondaries most of the time. You will be disappointed. Now, onto the big boys: her 12 12 inch guns with 4 triple turrets. This high number of barrels gives her surprisingly high DPM compare to her contemporaries. And for 12 inch guns they do have pretty good penetration and accuracy, meaning you can do considerable damage to even Tier VI battleships at medium range while basically dumping on any Tier IV battleship. However, her range is not as good as other battleships at Tier V and her guns also reload fairly slowly at only 22 seconds for guns of her caliber. Her shell velocity is also a bit on the low side at maximum range which means that leading shots is important. Another note about the October Revolution is that for a ship of her agility, her turrets turn quite slowly, meaning you will outturn them a lot if you are always hard on the rudder. This, coup with her weak secondaries means that up close October’s firepower may struggle against most targets, particularly enemy destroyers or other ships with good agility. However, the slightly slow shell velocity means that extremely long range sniping is also not going to be where her firepower is most effective. Her guns shine at mid range where she doesn’t have to worry about turning too much to get all her guns facing the enemy target and where she can land a huge number of devastating shells against enemy targets. A final aspect about October Revolution’s guns is the turret layout. It is a layout similar to that of the Fuso but with the 2nd turret facing backwards and the 3rd facing forwards. What this means is that fully front on October can only bring 3 guns forward, limiting the firepower she can bring. However, only slightly angled from enemy ship can allow the 3rd turret to fire forward and it doesn’t take too much to bring all 4 turrets to bare. It is best to think the 3rd turret as the normal 2nd turret and vice versa. It is a weird layout for sure but it isn’t something too difficult to get use to and the only drawback is that if one turret is knocked out you have lost a quarter of your firepower. A separate mention must be made for her HE shells. Put simply, they are absolutely ridiculous in terms of how good they are. They had high damage per shot but also a high chance of setting fires. This allows the October Revolution to engage enemy destroyers at mid range with some level confidence that even if the destroyer does sink her, it is unlikely to make it out of the engagement alive. Overall, October Revolution’s firepower stems mostly from her main guns with good accuracy and penetration. She is best suited at mid ranges where she can land plenty of shots while also minimising her slow turret traverse speed. She is your basic dreadnought type warships through and through, sacrificing secondary guns for powerful main guns, and she will do massive amounts of damage if her shells hit. Durability: You know how I said that October Revolution was a glass cannon? Well, here comes the glass part. The armour of the October Revolution is on the weaker side of battleships, more comparable to Tier IV battleships. She can take somes shots: she is a battleship with lots of HP, and she not going to crumple against the solo cruiser. And she can probably outlast a Tier IV battleships in 1v1 fighting as well. But in general in an extended engagement, it is best to leave the tanking to other Tier V battleships on your team as she cannot take too many hits. When the enemy battleships do hit you, it will hurt a lot more than you are going to be comfortable with. Her torpedo defences are also not as good as her American and Japanese counterparts which means she is vulnerable to torpedo attack. All of this makes the October Revolution pretty vulnerable to enemy battleship fire for an extended period of time and should not be something you try and count on in order to win. Trying to tank in this ship will end you worse for wear than if you chose to tank in pretty much any other Tier V battleships, particularly the American and German ships. This is another reason why brawling in October Revolution is not recommended: her armour is not really up to the job. It is best to try and present as small a target as possible while being able to fire your guns by wiggling about and only exposing your sides when you are ready to fire back. Surviving as long as possible while dealing massive amounts of damage to the enemy (doing just one or the other will not be of much use to your team) will help you deal the most damage and be the biggest influence in the battle. In short: Try not to get hit by same tier enemy battleships in extended engagements. You will probably falter before them. Manoeuvrability: For low-mid tier battleships, October’s agility is adequate enough. She is not going to be outspeeding battlecruisers like Kongo, but in comparison to the German and American counterparts her max top speed with equipment of 24.5 knots is certainly comparable. This coup with her surprisingly good turning ability can help you maneuver into the firing position you want to be in and help preemptively dodge torpedo attacks launched from extreme ranges. However, this agility is not without its drawbacks. First off, she is still not going to keep up with cruisers at this tier if they are all charging towards the other end of the map, which may leave you a little behind during the middle of a match. It also means that running away from enemy battleships is not going to be easy and for a fragile battleship like October Revolution, this is a bit of a problem. But more importantly, she will outturn her turrets at a very alarming rate. This means that during sharp turns it is pretty much impossible to keep your guns locked onto your target. As such it is important to stop turning hard if you want to fire, limiting her ability to brawl. In most situations it is better to use your agility to turn the turrets themselves towards the right target rather than relying on just the turret traverse itself. In all, October Revolution has pretty average agility for a low tier battleship. There isn’t too much to say other than that she is at least faster than a brick. Anti-Aircraft Defense: It’s there. October Revolution has anti aircraft defences and it can shoot down a few planes over the course of a battle. But if a carrier wants you dead, unless you are sticking near a couple of anti aircraft cruisers or battleships you will struggle to deter them. Still, it is a nice bonus to have in some situations especially since at Tier V carriers start to get a bit more powerful and some defense will be appreciated. Just don’t go expecting it to save you from a dedicated attack from the skies. Concealment: It’s a battleship. Stealth is not going to be one of the things you are going to be able to take advantage of too much. The most important thing is that you can fire before you are detected. This is certainly useful when you are probably going to see the enemy first and can get off the first shots before they start shooting at you. Despite this, you are not going to be using your stealth that much so don’t bother in trying to form a strategy around it. Though one has to wonder how she has this concealment given that almost Japanese superstructure. How to Play: October is not a battleship to tank enemy shots from. Nor is she a camping sniper (though perhaps she could be used as a long range shotgun if you so desire). She is best as a heavy support who excels at mid range combat where she can reliably land tonnes of shots at enemy cruisers and battleships but also far enough so that her turret traverse is not too much of an issue and where her enemy will be less effective at hitting her too much. In terms of using her guns, it is best to use her like a Fuso: point the nose of the ship when your guns are reloading and only expose your sides in order to unleash a massive broadside into enemy ships. Your primary targets are enemy cruisers first and foremost. Your 12 inch guns firing AP shells will cause massive damage to them and with so many guns one good broadside can wipe out half of the hitpoints of most Tier V cruisers. It is similar to the Scharnhorst in this regard. Against destroyers, the engagement is a bit harder. Try to keep your distance from them so that the effective not their torpedo attacks is reduced. Constant manoeuvring is also a good idea against destroyers since torpedo hits will hurt a lot on the October Revolution. Her HE shells are the prefered ammo choice as not only they will be less likely to overpen, but they also deal massive damage and with their high fire chance can also set many fires. This is why it is a good idea to load HE shells at the start of a battle for in case you run into enemy destroyers and even against enemy battleships they can be quite effective. Against battleships, AP will be generally the best choice of ammo as it will deal massive amounts of damage. Keep your distance from brawling ranges but don’t stay at sniping ranges either. If possible, have another battleship or a few cruisers with you to protect you, either by taking the shots or helping you to kill any enemy battleships. Having another battleship in particular will assist in preventing you from taking too many hits while you blast the enemy with your massive salvos and dealing massive damage. If allied battleship shields are in short supply, try to engage enemy battleships while they are distracted by the other ships on your team. This should at the very least allow you to get the first shots off and deal the first massive salvo. Engaging multiple enemy battleships at once is also not recommended as if they all focus on you they will send you back to port in no time. Picking off one at a time is the prefered tactics and unless there is no other option should be your main strategy. At Tier VI, the same strategy applies in pretty much all the same ways. Your AP shells still hurt enemy cruisers, your HE is still effective against enemy DDs and your guns is still accurate enough to be a threat to battleships. However if your shells are not penetrating the armour effectively, the use of HE is still pretty viable to set higher tier battleships on fire. Carriers are a bit more powerful at Tier VI so if possible try to stick near an allied cruiser for added protection. Recommended Build: For the First Slot, one of the best options are Main Battery Modification in order to improve your turret traverse which is something that is helpful when you are trying to fire off your guns while making hard turns. Alternatively, if you want to maximise your damage output, Main Battery Modification II is also a viable option which can reduce your reload by 2 seconds which can mean a lot in the heat of battle. For the Second Slot, these skills are pretty equal and there is not really one gamebreaking option. Steering Modification I is however a decent choice since it allows you to turn better which can be useful for evading enemy shells and torpedoes fired at you. For the Final Slot, the best options are Propulsion Modification II to improve your top speed that bit more or Steering Modification II to further improve your turning abilities against enemy shells and torpedoes. It is worth noting however that doing a double steering Modification will mean the issue of outrunning your turrets will be much more pronounced so be cautious. Overall Impressions: October Revolution is a fun ship for sure, if not a bit demanding of the player. She is in a sense a battlecruiser like warships but without the speed of the an actual battlecruiser. In exchange however is that she has a tonne of firepower that can delete enemy cruisers, destroyer enemy battleships and seriously hurt enemy battleships. Her firepower is the main selling point of the ship. She has a lot of guns and with the ability to fire many of them even without exposing a lot of broadside and this allows her to deal massive amounts of damage. Her weaknesses of weak armour and longish reload is not enough to detract from her fun value enough for me not to like her. I like the October Revolution and I think she is a ship worth getting for players who value firepower in a battleship over anything else. She has her own playstyle and flavour when compare to other Tier V battleships and has her own little niche, which is always a plus for Premium ships and if this flavour suits you. October Revolution will be a bucket load of fun. Assuming that name and superstructure don’t turn you off of course. Plus, setting so many fires against enemy ships is a feeling that I quite like myself. And with her HE shells expect quite a few fires. Should you Get it? Why not? October Revolution is certainly a decent buy and a nice alternative to the more heavily armoured but slower and Texas. If it is possible to buy her and if you are interested in Tier V, then she is certainly a good load of fun. If however you want a ship that is more tanky and can better survive against enemy ships up close, than October Revolution is probably not the ship for you and you may be better off buying either an Arkansas with comparable main guns and far better secondaries or the Arizona which better secondaries and very powerful main guns in a more standard layout. For Co-op Battles: October Revolution can bring down the house against bots. They usually won’t take advantage of your weak defences leaving you pretty safe to blast them away with your immense firepower. And as a premium ship she can earn extra credits from Co-op battles which is a nice bonus. Just don’t expect to make as much money in Co-op as with in random. For Random Battles: At top tier, she is a clubber. At bottom tier she is still a threat. October Revolution is perfectly adequate for random battles, able to deal massive amounts of damage if she survives. However as a credit earner she is a little lacking due to being only Tier V and her camo offers similar bonuses to Tier II-IV Camo. Despite this, if you are looking just for a good battleship, the October Revolution is a solid choice. Just make sure to stay away from mass battleship formations unless they are distracted by something else. For Competitive Play: Depends. If you can have another more tanky allied battleship on your side and the two can help each other out then she is certainly viable for competitive play with her massive firepower. Alone however she may not be able to find enemies in the positions that favour her as much as needed. Still her massive firepower and cruiser killing capabilities are certainly good reasons as to why someone would want to bring her into competitive gameplay. For Collectors: She is certainly an interesting ship to look at. She is also the first Russian Battleship in the game so that alone may be your incentive to get her. Not only that but her history is something to think about. If you are interested in Russian Naval history than she is by far not the worst option. However, if you are just collecting her for naval history in general, then I have to give her a pass here. There are better ships out there that have way more importance in Naval history. Her camo is certainly good looking though. For Fun Factor: Do you like lobbying lots of shells at enemy ships? If yes than October Revolution can fill in that role pretty well. She is also a lot of fun when you are able to set multiple fires with your HE. If however you get easily frustrated by slow turning turrets and guns with slow rate of fire on a fragile ship, then she is probably not the ship for you. Final Rating: That is all for today. Thanks for reading and I will see you in other review. This is AbyssalKageryu, signing out. Category:Blog posts